The Captivation Between Jess and Leslie
by Stonebolt
Summary: This is an LDD story that's rewrite and continuation of the second half of Bridge To Terabithia. Movie Version Jess lost his Dad's keys and is quite upset, but nothing can put a smile on your face like Terabithia.
1. May Bell Is So Annoying!

Note: This Fanfiction is based on the movie version of Bridge To Terabithia. In this version Jess and Leslie are (currently) 12 years old and in sixth grade. Leslie's birthday is August 12th and Jess's is September 20th so Leslie is a bit older than Jess. Leslie moved to Lark Creek in 2007. May Bell is seven. Most of the first few chapters is just a re-write of what happened in the movie, because if I didn't do that the story wouldn't work. By the way, it's an LDD.

This is my first fanfic. Please review so I know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. I know it's rushed but I don't know how to prevent that.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

-

Jess was laying in bed with a lamp on over his head, so glad to be free from chores his Dad had him doing for almost an eternity that evening. He looked at the stopwatch his aunt gave him on his birthday a few weeks ago. It was 11:55 pm on Thursday the eleventh. No wonder his eyes were so heavy.

But for some reason he wouldn't let them close. He was much too absorbed in sketching a pair squogers making their unique squeaking and grunting calls at the moon, and Prince Terrain tickling a giant troll. His work was incredibly precise, he rubbed his thumb hard in the pencil ink making a very real shadow of the troll.

Leslie made these thing come alive, he thought. Well I suppose I helped, after all it probably wouldn't be much fun fighting squogers alone, but-

"Jess why are you up?"

"WHA!" Jess turned his head. He was relived to find the voice had piped up was only May Bell. Oh no... it was _May Bell._

"What are squogers?"

"Wha-uh, there's no such thing May Bell," Jess said in a scolding whisper, "Why are _you_ up, it's _midnight!_"

"Not yet." She pointed to a clock that read 11:57. "And don't play dumb with me you muttered something about fighting squogers!" Jess rolled his eyes at his sister's apparent telepathy.

"I wasn't muttering anything."

"Yes you do, when you're sleepy you think you're thinking things but really you talk 'em." Normally Jess would laugh at May's childish grammar but now he was far too grouchy.

"Go back to bed May Belle," his voice was louder.

"_You were talking about how your girlfriend makes things live and you help her and squogers!"_

"Jess, May Bell." They looked at their mother at the doorway. "You two should be asleep." She clicked off Jess's lamp and May Bell crawled back in her bed. Mary Aarons left to go back to sleep as well.

Jess barley managed to mutter "She's not my girlfriend." And then he collapsed with his head at the foot of his bed, and fell into a deep slumber.

"_Jess Aarons! Admit it! I am your girlfriend!" she gleefully teased._

"_No you're not!" Jess said, "You wish!"_

"_Oh come on! You know! You think I'm,ahem, CAPTIVATING!"_

"_You're just conceded."_

"_Grow up Jesse. This is just a dream. It won't be this easy in real life."_

"_What do you mean."_

"_I mean I'm laying it all out here! That's not how_ _it really goes. You've got to be the man Jesse. Now goodbye!" She took off, running toward the sky. She didn't need the ground to run, she was running straight toward the sun._

"_Leslie wait!"_ _Why was she leaving? Just as she was disappearing into the lowest cloud she turned back and spoke;_

"_Jess!" Her voice was now a lot more masculine than normal._

"Jess, where are my keys?" Suddenly Jess was awake, confused by the crazy dream. He looked up at his Dad who had shaken him awake. Apparently he was the masculine voice.

"What"

"My keys, you never gave them back to me." They must just be in these Jess thought as he sat up and searched the pants he'd worn the day before. The keys weren't there and Jess's face became stricken with horror as he knew he was in deep trouble.


	2. Jess is stressed

This is my first fanfic, so please review and give me tips ok?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Leslie was concerned about why Jess wasn't by the road waiting for the bus with her and May Bell. He was the kind of guy who could lose track of time when he's doing something, but her watch told her it was 7:46 and the bus was already a minute late. May Bell appeared to be chattering on about how she built a house for her Barbie and Ken dolls out of cardboard, tape and glue but couldn't seem to get it to stay up. Leslie was trying to pay attention but couldn't help looking around for Jess.

The bus was turning down the road now and was about a quarter mile away. Leslie needed her question answered.

"so I decided maybe if I could get my Mom to get me hot glue-

"May Bell where's Jess."

"How long have you been thinking about Jess?" she was making a curious accusation.

"Well the bus is almost here, and_ he's_ not. Is he sick?"

"Last time him I saw him he was looking in the basement. My dad told me not to worry about it and that he was, err..." her voice went timid, "he was, looking for something important to him, important to my Dad." May hung her head and her big eyes watched her own feet stop swinging.

"Looking for what?"

May Bell flung herself at Leslie and hugged her adorably. _"Please Leslie you can keep him from being mad at me!"_

"Why would he be mad at you?" Les asked motherly.

"You know those bells you said you wanted in the forest?"

"Yeah." They stood up as the bus arrived.

"I found some keys off the ground," she said as they walked in and took their seats, "and I went into the forest and hung them in the treehouse."

The pair looked out the far windows to the right and saw Jess pop out of his front door. The bus driver shook his head in disappointment at the boy, but Jess ran with exceptional speed. May Bell climbed under the bus seats and into the one in front of her so Jess could sit beside Leslie. The driver gave Jess a brief lecture about being late, after which Jess plopped himself down beside his best friend, and felt a slight weight lift off his shoulders from her presence. Still, he was upset, more upset than one would expect from a case of missing keys, and Leslie hated it.

"You look awful," she said, "what's the matter?"

"I lost the keys my Dad needs for work. And now he has to get new keys made, and locks, and-

"May Bell." She had been shrinking in her seat but then yelled in fear;

"_Please don't let anyone get mad at me!"_

"What?"

"Jess I know where your Dad's keys are"

"You do?"

"You know, the bells we talked about making, well it was meant to be a surprise, all that clinking metal and junk, and May Bell wanted to help."

"And you let her?"

"May Bell. Why did you tell me you found the keys on the ground?" Leslie meant it in more of a "where were they really," question but May Bell felt accused.

"They _were _on the ground!"

"Yeah," Jess said angry, "on the ground of the greenhouse! What's the matter with you? Dad's ready to kill me."

"I was waiting for the right time."

"So you know where the keys are?" Leslie nodded and Jess sighed. The rest of the bus ride was quiet, and although Jesse's mind remained on retrieving the keys, Leslie's mind drifted toward her hope that she and Jess would be able to turn this bad day around in Terabithia.


	3. A Good Rainstorm

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Leslie, Jess, and May Bell exited the bus to their homes.

"Tell Mom I'll be home in a little bit," said Jess

"Are you gonna tell Dad it was me?" asked May Bell afraid. Jess couldn't believe she had conceived of such a thing, because he would never hand over somebody he loved to his Dad's wrath.

"Don't worry, it's my job to get Dad's keys back. See ya later." May Bell departed toward her home and Jess and Leslie freed PT from his leash by Leslie's back porch and jogged to the rope. The river was swollen and it had seemed to be littered with tree bark and branches.

"Wow, look how high it got," said Leslie. Come on.

As soon as they had crossed the creek Jess began a rant about his Father's rage. This annoyed Leslie but she knew he needed somebody to listen to what he had to say. Still it was unusual of Jess to complain. Normally he was the playful, energetic, artistic and thoughtful guy she could be with for hours on end. But she had heard stories that he acts different when he's not around her. However her instincts told her that the Jess she knew was the real Jess!

Their heads turned as they both heard a mystic sound. They saw the Dark Master running, possibly signaling, and then he vanished.

"Jess what if the Dark Master gets to the keys first."

"I'm not scared of any Dark Master those are my Dad's keys."

They began to jog but were abruptly cut off by an ambushing squoger. It's repetitive squeal scared them both. It pulled on two trip wires hidden in the fallen leaves and pine needles, and Jess and Leslie fell on the ground. The king and queen rose. The giant troll hunting dog felt the excitement and started barking at the squoger. "Leslie, get behind me." King Jess intended to finish this fight as fast as it had begun.

As much as she loved the chivalry as she turned behind him it proved useless. "Jess turn around, there's more!" Two extra squogers had descended from the trees.

"Here take this," Jess picked up two mighty clubs and tossed one to his fellow warrior, who was immediately tackled by an aggressive squoger and all that protected Les was the strong club she held between her and the beast. A second squoger was used all its might tearing away Jesse's stick and sending him tumbling on the ground landing, but Jess recovered on all limbs.

"PT get 'em" commanded Leslie and the dog bit the beast attacking Leslie in the rump. The squoger howled in pain. Leslie kicked it like a judo master. The squoger went flying through the air hitting his companion and they collided into the trees.

"Good boy PT."

A squogers recovered and tried to tackle Jesse, but the miracle of an steel glove fit for the finest of knights in-cased his hand. He hit the squoger hard and it dropped like a fly, the second squoger attacked at him as Jess turned to face him and with a swift bust he was knocked out as well. Jess and Leslie grinned but their celebration was short lived.

A pack of hairy vultures uttering their "dead meat" grunt made a kill-dive. "Wow," yelled Jess as they ducked. "Run!"

The forest raced by them as only Jess and Leslie could make it. They picked off the ground small objects that looked like innocent pine cones. They pulled the pins and threw them into the air behind them. There was a loud, dusty explosion and three hairy vultures were gone.

"Told you there were grenades," mocked Leslie playfully. But Jess had no time to argue. A vulture snuck up, dug its talons into her red fall coat, and lifted her off the ground.

"AHHH!," she squeaked in fear. "AHHH! JESS!" He didn't think he just jumped and held onto her as hard as he could.

"I GOT YOU LESLIE! I GOT YOU!" The vulture couldn't take the weight, it tried to keep going up but its struggling was useless. If it didn't let go it would surely hit the leaning branch ahead of it, and vultures are very stubborn creatures. "UP AHEAD GET READY!"

BANG! The best friends fell and recovered and rejoined PT as the vulture hit the branch, smashed its beak in, and dropped its prey.

"_He'll catch us!" _

"_Leslie, we're the fastest in Terabithia!"_

Their speed went to something nobody imagined humans could muster up, and they dashed through their Kingdom feeling invincible. There was a grin on both their faces and Leslie felt euphoric from her valiant rescue from the vulture. But that feeling was fleeting and almost instantly replaced by anxiety because when the duo reached their tree house they saw the dark master again, appearing and disappearing like a coward.

"He's watching us," Leslie whispered.

"Where are the keys again?"

"Here," she held up a light turquoise pouch that was hanging from her neck. Jess opened it and a magnificent beam of white light shone up from the pouch to the keys eight feet above the top of the treehouse hanging from a branch. Jess chuckled.

The annoying grunt was heard again. The friends looked over in fear. The dark master had rallied together a tough force. A dozen or so squogers came from the path they had been running through. It was an overwhelming force that could not be fought by two royals and one troll hunter.

"Where are Terabithia warriors when you need 'em?" asked Jess.

"I don't know," she uttered scared. A single tiny flying warrior appeared from behind the treehouse and saluted the king and queen.

"Great," said Jess with sarcasm, "now there's three of us." But that warrior was just the four-star general. The total fighting force, a swarm of a million followed behind him. Leslie grinned as she saw the massive army.

She looked into Jesse's eyes and said, "now we're even." The army flew straight into the squogers who couldn't stand the assault. They made little effort to fight, for the warriors were so numerous that they may as well have been immortal. A pack of vultures swooped in head first from the treetops with the belief that they could take on this force. But they seemed to change their mind as soon as they arrived, and all they did was flap their wings hard in hope of batting the little soldiers away and fleeing quickly.

Jess hopped as fast as he could to the top of his home in the forest and continued farther up the tree that supported it using a dangling knotted rope.

"Be careful, you're almost there," encouraged Leslie as she climbed up the wooden steps into the treehouse herself.

And with her words as strength he climbed up the trunk and rope like he was an ape. He was using an agility he didn't know he had. He reached the top of the rope, then hoisted himself onto the next branch and was at the end of where he was safe to ascend. He stood up straight and stretched up his arm. Gripping the trunk with his right hand. The fingers of his left hand were in the canopy, just barley touching the metal of the keys. Without warning a vengeful vulture dove from the sky and struck him in the chest. He lost his balance in the tree. He began to fall but not before he closed his left hand into a fist.

"JESS!" she screamed with her hands over her mouth in horror. His foot struck a branch and he was sent into a dizzying spiral.

"AHH!"

"JESS!"

"Uhgh," he grunted as his fall was broken. He looked around him and felt the massive hand he was laying in. It belonged to the troll that saved him. His jaw hung open and his breathing was heavy as he was lifted into the tree and the arms of Leslie. Who dared to look into the face of the troll and she gasped in shock. Jess stood up and looked to. The face was the same as Janice Avery's.

"Hey," said the troll smiling. Jess and Leslie looked at each other and they could see the how wide each other's eyes had grown. They looked back up as the troll walked away. Jess raised his hand to his waist and opened his fist, keys were revealed. The best friends grinned and chuckled slightly, but it seemed there wasn't enough air to laugh completely. He slid the keys in his pocket.

Jess and Leslie, along with PT of course, began to walk home, both so Jess could deliver the keys, and because dark thunderclouds were starting to menace over them. They couldn't help but feeling it, feeling like something that usually was far below the surface was beginning to rise. And they seemed to be walking closer together than normal, their hands kept swinging into each other, which felt strange but neither of them made any effort to stop them. As if the troll willed it or something, a great thunderclap grumbled and lightning skated across the sky. The dark clouds were beginning to block out the sun, and all of a sudden a dense rainfall began that pelted the leaves of the trees. Making a beautiful piece of natural music that played for the friends as they walked toward the rope.

The rain was soaking Jess and Leslie, but they had no desire to put up the hoods on their fall coats. They just walked toward the rope and became drenched so that their clothes stuck to their skin, their hair grew wet and their steps became squishy.

They came to the creek and Leslie grabbed the rope that was wrapped around the bushes. Leslie swung across gracefully. "Uoh," she grunted as she swung the rope back. Jess wrapped both the rope and Prince Terrain in his arms as he swung across the creek and his feet kicked the water of the stream, soaking everywhere on him below the knees and sending a subtle rush of bliss throughout him.

As he handed the dog to Leslie he watched a drop of water dripping off her face and onto her aqua shirt while PT pawed her affectionately. They jogged down the driveway, gleeful, hearing only the sound of the rain and their footsteps.

"See ya," said Leslie, as she turn toward her house.

"Yeah see ya."

Leslie started jogging toward her house and Jess took two small steps away and helplessly stopped. Leslie slowed down to a freeze too and she turned her head back toward Jess so that her captivating golden hair hung over part of her face and she waved at him in a cute way. Jesse's jaw hung open and his face was one of explicit admiration. Without his mind debating, he took a slow, heavy and direct step toward Leslie Burke.

Leslie looked like she was about to turn away but then she did not. Jess took another step toward her. Leslie shifted back to face him. Jess took another step closer and Leslie bent down and let PT go. She stood up so that her eyes met Jesse's and she spoke again,

"See ya," she said nervously.

Jess took another step toward her so that they were now just two feet away and answered, "Yeah see ya," in a whisper. Leslie took the final step toward him and rested her hand on his chest. She was so nervous that she broke eye contact and her head looked down, at the four feet below her. Jess put two fingers on her chin and pushed her head up so that they looked into each other's eyes again. They each leaned forwards with their eyes closed, and their lips brushed up against each others. They each twitched nervously away for a moment. They opened their eyes and looked at each other's faces. Each was of happy shock that wanted more.

They closed their eyes again. Jess tilted his head to the left and moved in. He rested his hands on both of Leslie's cheeks and kissed her again. Jess was so good a kisser that Leslie fell forward onto him and grabbed his shoulders for support. Her face slide down his neck and she rested her forehead on the top of his chest. Jess buried his face in her hair, which smelled like watermelon and it was the most perfect moment he'd ever remembered.

"JESS!" a voice called out. They stood up straight from the startle. "JESS, WHERE ARE YOU AND MY KEYS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE PAST HOUR AND A HALF!?" Jess and Leslie pulled apart and looked over at Jack Aarons who was out in a raincoat with a flashlight, walking through the fields of the old Aaron farmstead searching for his boy. "So yeah, see ya," muttered Jess and he turned and walked away slowly toward his father, disappointed that he was taken away from Leslie so soon.

Leslie watched him walk away for a few seconds and then suddenly became aware of PT barking impatiently, taking shelter under a tree. Leslie picked him up. "Oh you're shivering," she pulled him, "Oh I'm sorry PT," she said in a nurturing way. "Maybe we need to find you somebody, who always makes sure to keep you warm in the rain. And you know I think that's what I just found." And with that Leslie skipped home, and entered the warmth of her house.

"Hey sweety," said her Mom, "why do you look like she you just won the lottery?"

"No reason," lied Leslie without hiding her grin.


	4. Are you my brother's girlfriend?

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

So I got a few reviews that said the story was entertaining, but there were some big spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm sorry about those and I promise to be more careful from now on, and I will stop saying _May Bell _instead of _May Belle._

* * *

It was 7 am on a Saturday and a pretty pink sunrise set the scene as Jack Aarons proudly was strolling to his car to drive off to work. The night before, Lark Creek's TMX Hardware Store called him to tell him he had just been promoted! His rank rose from stock-boy, or in his case stock-man, to "Stock Manager." And that meant a wage increase from 8.25 an hour to 10.40 an hour, which brought a great sigh of relief. He'd had an excessively hard time supporting his family on 8.25 an hour ever since the gas prices went up. The thing that put the slight smile on his face though, was that his son had given him his keys back. Combined, it seemed as though Jack had recovered from a punch in the stomach from money, and now he was punching back.

As soon as he'd left the house the phone rung, and as usual May Belle ran like a childish cheetah to grab the phone, even though the odds of it being for her were slim. "Aaron residence," she said like a cheerful robot.

"Hey May Belle? It's Leslie, is Jess there?"

"Leslie, are you my brother's _girlfriend?_" Ellie heard this annoying comment and stopped watching Joyce Ann, and started eavesdropping on her little sister.

"Uhh May, I, girlfriend... huh?" Jess had told Leslie how May Belle always managed to say the best or worst thing at the best or worst time, but she had never seen it firsthand.

"It's a simple question isn't it Leslie?"

"No... I mean, it isn't. It's not a simple question... right?"

"Wrong!" said May Bell like she was throwing a tantrum, "There are only two answers so it's a simple question, right?"

"Maybe."

"So are you his girlfriend?"

"Naw," she denied.

Ellie left the sidelines and said to her sister, "She lied didn't she?"

"I don't know." May Belle replied helplessly.

"Did she say no?"

"She said naw."

"Then she lied." May Belle turned back to the phone.

"Did you lie? My sister Ellie said you just lied. Did you just lie?"

"Maybe."

"So you are my brother's girlfriend?"

"Sure May Belle," sighed Leslie, it was the first time that little lovable May Belle had given her a headache. "Just put me on with Jess okay?"

"Ok Leslie," said May Belle with a devious smile. She turned to Ellie, "She said yes."

"Oh May Bell," replied Ellie in a bogus theatrical voice, "We're going to be aunts!" This only confused May Belle as she was just an overprotected seven year old. However she was on a mission to find Jess and would quiz Ellie about how she'd be turning into an ant when she got back.

"JESS! JESS!" she yelled running throughout the house with the receiver. She headed upstairs, "JESS!". She dashed into the room the two shared, and found him sit-laying on his bed with his sketchbook. "Jess I called you _three times!" _Her devious smile returned. "It's your girlfriend."

"She's not... gimmie that!" He snatched the receiver away.

"Yes she is," May Bell argued, "she said so." And with that May Belle hurried downstairs to solve the 'ant mystery.'

Jesse was anxious. He had been dreading this moment, talking to Leslie. Not that he didn't want to be around her, he felt like he'd wrestle a rabid pit bull to be with her. But he had no clue what to do or say. Kissing her was easy and simple, but what happened afterward seemed complicated and nerve-racking. They taught you how to kiss in the movies, but not what to do next, not unless you were planning to fight in World War Two or drown in the Atlantic Ocean. And what did May Belle mean exactly by "Yes she is, she said so?" Was that just a perfectly timed prank? Or was Leslie already proclaiming to the world that Jess Aarons was hers? With his heart beating overtime, Jess raised the receiver to his ear.

"Hey Jess."

"Hey Leslie."

"My parents are going into Richmond today to publish a book and visit my Nana and Papa. They let me stay home because they know I find publishing business boring and I hate my Nana and Papa's cooking and how they always treat me like a three year old and what not." She paused. "Sorry for rambling, do you wanna come over?"

"Yeah, I do. I just have to do my chores."

"Kay, well don't dawdle alright?"

"Sure thing." Jess hung up and stood to dress, but immediately the receiver rang again.

"Aaron residence," Jess said as he answered the phone.

"Hello Jess."

"Wait who is this?"

"I know it's a Saturday but it's your teacher Miss Edmunds. I was planning on taking my nephews into the city to the museum, and my sister changed her plans last minute, so I had a thought. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."

"Museum, you mean the art museum?"

"Yeah."

"Well, wow, that sounds wonderful. But... could Leslie come with us?" Jess still was nervous about what would happen between the two of them, but he assumed doing something nice like visit the art museum would set things on the right track. Besides, Miss Edmunds and Leslie were both very positive people and Jess concluded that the day couldn't possibly go wrong if they were both around.

"Well of course she can Jess. In fact I was about to ask you the same question. But first you should go ask your parents permission."

Jess raced downstairs and entered the room where his mom was asleep. "Hey Mom?" She half sat up and looked at him.

"Is it the baby?"

"No, she's fine. May Belle's got her," he said, forgetting it was actually Ellie watching her. His mother's head fell back onto her pillow. "Teacher wants me to go on a field trip today."

"Mmmhm."

"Is that okay?" She grunted in half-conscious affirmation. And Jess left his mother and closed the door. He spoke into the phone. "Miss Edmunds? Yeah I can go."

"Excellent Jess, call Leslie and ask her if she can go and then we'll all meet at your bus stop in say, half an hour?"

"Sure."

"Okay, see you then Jess, buh-bye."

"Bye." Jess hung up and dialed Leslie's number.

"Hello?" said the sweet voice.

"Hey Leslie, change of plans, how'd ya like to go with me and Miss Edmunds into the city to the art museum?"

"Art museum? _OH!_ I went to one of those, the one in Chicago. It was _so cool!"_

"Great," said Jess, surprised by her enthusiasm. After all, it was the art museum, not six flags. "Then meet me in half an hour by the bus stop."

"Kay Jess," she replied gleefully and then she hung up. Jess hung up too and held his head up high with a smile that said, 'I'm the man.' Then he went to shower, dress, and do his chores, well a couple of them, as fast as he could.

* * *

_Dear Diary, Saturday October 13__th__, 2007_

_My name's Leslie Sophia Burke and this is the first time I've ever written in a diary before. My Nana gave me this diary two months ago on my birthday but just now I had some time to kill and got the impulse to write in it._

_You see I've always thought of a diary as this thing teenage girls write in about their love lives, and I've never had a love life before, except for that thing when I was 10, you know what I mean._

_But now, I have a love life, I think. You see I moved to Lark Creek on the first day of school this year and met Jess Aarons, he lives next door. Jess is the coolest guy, he's kind of a loner but he's still the coolest guy and we've been KING AND QUEEN of Terabithia together for the past month and a half_. _Terabithia is this place where we can do __anything because it's our own kingdom!_ _And ruling it with Jess is the most fun I've ever had with one person._

_I think I've had a crush on Jess for weeks. And I think he's had a crush on me for weeks._ _But what I know for sure is yesterday he kissed me! And Jess is one helluva kisser! I mean the way he put his hands on my cheeks was...CAPTIVATING! And he knew exactly how to umm, move his lips right. I know that sounds like a dumb way to say it, but it's true._

_So anyway. I really think I __might__ be in love with Jess. I mean I'm only 12, so I can't be sure, because I'm not even sure if I know what being in love is. But here's my theory: Before Jess kissed me, I'm pretty sure I __loved him __as a friend if nothing more. But then he kissed me and now I think we're __more than friends._ _So me __loving him + we being more than friends I'm in love with him!__ Right? I don't know._

_I woke up early this morning, and I never do that on Saturdays but today I seemed to wake up with spunk for no particular reason. After I showered, ate, and changed I called Jess, because my parents are leaving for the day and I wanted him to come over. His sister May Belle picked up the phone, and normally I really like May Belle. But she started asking me if I was Jess's girlfriend, and she'd only take a yes or no answer! It made my mind do a belly flop._ _I don't think I'm officially Jess's girlfriend yet_ _so I said no. Then May Belle called me a liar so I got frustrated and said yes._ _When I asked Jess_ _to come over he said he would, but then five seconds later he called me back to say we're going to the art museum with Ms. Edmunds, which I'm excited to do because I've been to Chicago's art museum_ _before and it had a lot of really cool exhibits. I know it's weird though, that I'm excited to see some art museum, but Jess is really good at art himself, and I feel like I'd rather go to the art museum with Jess than go to Kings Dominion without him._

_Well it's time for me to go to the bus stop to meet up with Jess_. _I sure hope for good luck today, I think I'll spray some of that cotton-candy perfume on me that I got from my Aunt Claire._

_Signed, Leslie Burke._


	5. The Perfect Day

So I'm sorry about the missing symbols in chapter 4. Apparently dollar signs and equals signs don't show up when their transferred from word perfect to Fanfiction and I've been doing all my proofreading and editing in word perfect. But oh well, practice makes perfect, and now I know better.

* * *

Jess had been sitting on the wooden bench by the mailboxes when Miss Edmunds pulled up in her burgundy station wagon. She got out and started leaning on the roof. "Hi Jess, where's Leslie?" Her musical voice sent a wave of joy through Jess but it had defiantly dwindled from what it normally was.

"I haven't seen her, but she said she can go. She's probably just in the bathroom or something." Immediatly however she popped out of her front door and began to sprint in their direction. As Jess looked at her quick strides and smooth arm pumps he was hit by a wave of joy three-fold what Miss Edmunds gave him. Leslie had to stop for a second because a gust of wind blew off her black baseball cap, but once she got it back she was at the car in five seconds flat.

"Hola Leslie," said Miss Edmunds.

"Hey guys," she said with a deep breath, "sorry for scraping the clock."

"So you both all set?"

"Of course," said Leslie.

"Yes ma'm," said Jess.

Leslie opened the door to the backseat of Miss Edmunds car and slid herself to the far side behind the driver's seat. Jess understood the hint and sat down beside her, and immediately smelled something about her that gave him the sensation of being at a carnival. Miss Edmunds started to drive and turned the radio on which started to blare an unfamiliar, upbeat pop song.

__

I wanna feel / I wanna really know / I got to be the one now to tell you that you'll forever shine.

The lyrics were ringing in Jess and Leslie's ears and they both blushed and looked down at their feet to avoid each other's gaze. They examined each other's trademark shoes for a second. Jess was as usual, wearing his girly second-hand running shoes, and Leslie, her ankle high sneakers, the left one was orange and the right one was blue. To break the awkwardness Leslie kicked Jess's foot playfully. Jess kicked back twice, then Leslie pushed his foot against the seat, trapping it. Before you knew it, they were in a serious foot-kicking-contest.

_I wanna feel (__Wanna feel) __I wanna see the sun (__See the sun) __I wanna be the one now to tell you that you'll forever shine _

Leslie was biting her lip in focus. She shifted herself so she was sitting almost sideways to bring both feet into the brawl. Jess had no intention of fighting an unfair battle and shifted himself too and started kicking back more forcefully. Leslie giggled.

"Jess, don't get so competitive." He smirked and a grin spread across his face. Miss Edmunds looked in the rear view mirror and caught Jess's gaze, and then she quickly glanced away and turned her attention back toward the road. She was well aware of the chemistry building in her backseat and realized then that taking Jess and Leslie probably inevitably made her the third wheel. Still, she'd predicted this somewhat and was smiling in empathy for them.

"Hey Leslie," she piped up, "If Jess is getting competitive in a kicking contest it's probably just to compensate for his pink shoes."

"Oooo Jess, you just got burned by the teacher! That's like a double-burn!"

Jess laughed and ran his hand through his hair. Then all fell silent except for the persisting music.

_I wanna feel / I wanna really know / I got to be the one now to tell you that you'll forever shine _

He began thinking the thought that he didn't let into his head until now, who was more beautiful, Miss Edmunds or Leslie? It felt like a dumb question to ask himself for two reasons. One he hadn't even acknowledged the fact that Leslie was beautiful until the day before. Two, he was comparing Leslie's beauty with the beauty of someone he didn't even know the first name of. He looked at Miss Edmunds elegant flowing jet black hair and pretty smile. And then at Leslie, her cute, short, golden hair and face that he couldn't take his eyes off of. He realized for the first time that they had the same eyes. They both had big, stunning, light blue eyes. The only difference was Miss Edmunds' eyes looked at him like an aunt looks at a nephew and Leslie's eyes looked at him like a girlfriend looks at a boyfriend. And quickly Jess concluded that Leslie was far more beautiful than Miss Edmunds, there was no question.

Jess leaned toward Leslie and spoke quietly, "Hey Leslie, you like cute, nostalgic stuff right?"

"Uh, I guess, where are you getting this from?" Jess felt like an idiot for doing what he was about to do, but he was committed to doing it.

"Come on Leslie, you do keep a stuffed Pikachu in your room after all."

"That's true, you got me Jess."

"Okay then, I made this while I was waiting for our ride, circle one." Jess handed her a pencil and a piece of paper that said:

_Do you like me?_

_Yes_

_No_

_Maybe_

"JESS!" she moaned with a great smile and an obvious blush, not hiding her emotion from the teacher. " You NERD!" She slugged his arm. "I haven't got one of these since first grade!" Miss Edmunds wanted to ask what was going on, but thought better of it.

"Well, which word did you circle in first grade?"

"I certainly didn't circle the word I am now," said Leslie as she turned away and sat up straight to hide which box she was checking. She held the paper up to the window and scratched the pencil. She turned back and handed it to Jess. "There you go."

Jess took the paper and his heart started bouncing around his chest like a rubber super-ball when he saw what was there. The paper read:

_Do you like me?_

_Yes_

_No_

_Maybe_

✓ _Very Yes_

"Yeah," said Jess, "that's umm, I guess..." Jess didn't know how to respond without letting Miss Edmunds know exactly what he meant, and even though she already had a good idea what was going on, he had no intention of saying 'I like you too,' in front of her. Instead Jess lent forwards, feeling the boldest he had in years, and calmly whispered in her little ear "I like you _more,"_ he paused,"I'll betcha ten bucks!_" _Suddenly turning it into a competition.

Leslie's eyes narrowed as she looked at Jess. "Oh, hog crap Aarons, you lie! I'll take your bet."

"Great, one problem though, I don't have ten bucks," his eyes widened in horror as he muttered, "Dang, I can't buy any food, and I didn't pack anything."

"Don't worry Jess," said Miss Edmunds kindly, "I'm buying lunch."

"Thanks ma'm." Jess felt himself grow more comfortable in his seat because it seemed everything in the world was going right.

"Hey, how long is the drive into DC?" asked Leslie as the song winded down, "I've never driven there from Lark Creek."

_Shiiiineeeeeeee__, __let it shine__, __shinee_

"Eh, it's only about forty five minutes," said Jess, holding out his hand, "thumb war?"

Leslie grabbed his hand and Jess sang off "One two three four. I declare a thumb war!" As _Larger Than Life _by _The Backstreet Boys _started blaring, Jess was surprised by how Leslie's smaller, weaker thumb could put up such a fight. Eventually Jess won though, and he claimed he could have done it faster if his ears hadn't been burning off from the horrible music. Leslie didn't buy it.

* * *

One hour later they were walking up the busy, white marble steps toward the National Art Museum. The steps appeared to have been there forever, but had never aged. Eight Greek-like columns held up the part of the building over the porch. Mrs. Edmunds, Jess and Leslie strode up the steps and through the revolving door, and craned their necks in all directions looking at the wonderfully decorated lobby. Jess turned to Leslie.

"What about a part-gorilla, part-Abe Lincon. A Grincon!"

"Wait, what?" Jess and Leslie had been talking about Washington D.C. inspired additions to 'the place' for the past ten minutes, using 'the place' as code so Miss Edmunds wouldn't hear about their secret. They had recently gotten off on a tangent about what the best place for Jess to paint in the city was, and Jess's spontaneous idea caught Leslie off guard.

"You know, a big gorilla with a top hat and a beard," his voice grew theatrical, _"come to free the prisoners!" _Leslie burst into a fit of giggles and she squeezed his shoulder affectionately. Miss Edmunds dropped 20 in the donation box by the display map on the wall, took a paper map and they went into a room with a sign over the doorway saying "Renaissance Paintings."

"Wow," whispered Jess. It was all different from Jess's art. Jess's art were more colorful than these, or some were not colored at all. And they were almost always something beautiful or something that brought him joy. A few of these were like that, but there were also many dull colored things and portraits of people not smiling. However Jess was amazed by the pure skill and effort put into each of them.

He found a painting he liked of a mediaeval town's street on market day. Leslie was looking around at the whole room, trying to take it all in at once. And then came up to the painting Jess was looking at and leaned far over the velvet rope to get a closer look. Miss Edmunds came up to it as well.

"Do you guys like it?"

"Yeah" they said in near unison.

"It's Brigule, one of my favorites. Jess I wonder if he started on notebooks like you I know Da Vinci did." They walked up to a portrait of a noble English woman holding a dog, she was not pretty but nevertheless the three stood there admiring the perfection of the work.

"It's amazing how much detail is put into it," said Jess.

"You've been to a museum before right?" asked Leslie.

"No it's my first time." This surprised Miss Edmunds.

"Really," she said. He nodded.

"Well then I'm honored." Jess felt honored too and they walked around into the next display room that read 'Wooden Sculptures.' And Jess found himself wondering around a wood puppet suspended from above by four strings. Jess studied it, wondering what the artist meant.

"Hey Jess," Leslie spoke up. He looked at her seriously. "Your art is, is better than a lot of this stuff."

"Well, I don't know, I mean, mine are kind of childish, and this stuff is so flawless."

"Well, you can't argue that your art is better than that." She pointed to a square piece of wood with a nail in it that had been displayed as artwork. They looked at each other and chuckled.

"Yeah, the art I made when I was _four _was better than that!"

* * *

Lunch time came after three wonderful hours, and they found themselves sitting at a sleek black table at the museum's modest café. Miss Edmunds and Leslie were splitting a pot of tea much to Jess's surprise.

"When did you start drinking tea?"

"When I was seven," she sipped it, "Try it." She held the cup up to Jess's mouth and he took some in his mouth. He made a funny face as he swallowed it. Leslie giggled as the sight was cute, "I guess it's an acquired taste."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jess taking a gulp of orange juice to clear the flavor from his mouth.

"It's such a nice day out," said Miss Edmunds, "It's been raining so much this month I was beginning to think it was like that Japanese myth where the sun goes into the cave and vows never to come out."

"You know about everything," said Jess.

"Mmmm," she said swallowing her tea, "Not by a long-shot but I try to keep an open mind and you'd be surprised what finds its way in there." Jess turned to Leslie.

"That's what Leslie said, she told me to keep my mind wide open."

"Well Leslie you're right. A couple of minds like yours wide open," she looked skyward, "you could create a whole new world." Jess and Leslie exchanged knowing glances, wondering if Miss Edmunds was psychic. "I'll be right back I just have to go to the bathroom." Miss Edmunds stood up and left them alone.

"Wow," muttered Leslie.

"Yeah," said Jess looking into her eyes. Suddenly he randomly remembered his sister's morning antics and sat upright with a slight smile. "Hey did you tell May Belle you were my girlfriend this morning." She smirked quietly.

"Kinda."

"Really?"

"Well, as soon as I asked to talk to you she was like, 'Are you my brother's _girlfriend?'_"

Jess nodded. "That's May Belle."

"At first I just stuttered and she said, 'It's a simple yes or no question.' Since I hadn't talked to you since... since the storm." It was the first time one of them brought up the subject of what happened in the storm. "I said no at first, but then May Belle called me a liar so I said yes."

"Wow, so she only let you say yes or no," he raised an eyebrow, "then when you said no she called you a liar?"

"Mm hm."

"The little brat."

"But... I guess it's true now right?" asked Leslie.

"That we are... boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"I guess," he leaned close to her and grabbed her hand under the table. He spoke softly, "that is true now." They slowly moved together and kissed while Jess's free hand slowly and lightly stroked her chin and neck. They parted and smiled at each other. "You smell like cotton candy," was all Jess could say.

Leslie smiled and she looked down a little embarrassed. "Thanks."

"_AWWW," _came a loud high pitched female voice. A stranger they had never seen before from the next table was staring at them. She looked like a 17 year old, punk-rock loving May Belle with a nose ring. "You two are _such_ a _cute couple!"_

Jess covered his face in his hands and said, "Oh my gosh." But Leslie put her arm around him proudly.

"I know eh?" she declared.

* * *

It was 4 pm and Miss Edmunds car came to the bus stop where she'd picked the two of them up in the morning. The three of them together had visited every room in the art museum.

"Thank you very much," said Jess to Miss Edmunds.

"You're very welcome."

"Maybe we could do this again some time," said Leslie hopefully.

"Absolutely."

Jess and Leslie exited the backseat of Miss Edmunds car and started strolling down the dirt road. The clouds had overcast the sky, removing the bright sun and making already somewhat dark. Jess looked around to make sure his sisters or the punk rock girl weren't around. The coast looked clear and Jess put his arm around Leslie's shoulder, and she leaned into him happily.

"So what was your favorite part of the museum?" asked Jess

"I'd have to say the landscape drawings and paintings, and yours?"

"Yeah, the landscapes were really something, remember that drawing of the Himalayas by sunrise?"

"Oh, yeah," she said already reminiscing the trip. "It'd be cool to go to the Himalayas." She almost said 'with you.'

"I think so too, but my favorite thing there was that massive painted sculpture, of the bee and the rose."

"Mmm."

"It was like ten feet tall!"

"Yeah, that thing was pretty good." They were comfortably quiet for a moment. "Jess."

"Yeah?"

"My parents are still in Richmond, wanna come over?"

"Yeah," said Jess, as if she'd asked him if one plus one equaled two, "Hey Leslie," he started seriously, "I think you cured me today."

"Of what?"

"My crush on Miss Edmunds." She smirked as they stepped onto her porch.


	6. Cookies

I havn't updated this story in over a year but I was feeling creative and decided to do so. I hope I'm not rusty after not writing this story for so long. You should know from now on, Jess and Leslie will gradually be losing their "childhood innocennce" as the story progessess. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Just grab a handful of dough," said Jess, "Should fit right into your palm, and flatten it halfway onto the cookie sheet."

"Jess when did you become the expert in baking anyway?" said Leslie.

"Well back when my big sisters loved me, I used to help them bake all the time. They went through a phase where they constantly baked to kill boredom, now they just watch t.v."

"Back when your big sisters loved you?"

"Yeah, they loved me when I was cute and did whatever they told me to do."

"Oh, yeah, too bad you're not cute anymore."

"Hey!"

Leslie giggled. "So you just were able to remember this sugar cookie recipe off the top of your head?" she said as she continued flattening dough balls onto the cookie sheet.

"Yeah, well there's a few things I'm really good at remembering," Jess replied as he grabbed some dough, "cookie recipes being one of them, but I actually do remember once I spent over an hour just memorizing this particular recipe, because I loved it so much and I knew I'd never want to forget it. This is the only recipe I know completely off the top of my head."

"Well, what else are you so good at remembering?"

"Well, things I've drawn, and tunes, I still remember how the tellitubbies theme song goes."

"Really, how's it go?"

"_Time for tellitubbies, time for tellitubies,"_ Jess sang,_ "Time for tellitubbies."_ Leslie laughed loudly.

"Really? That's how the song goes?"

"Yup," he paused wondering if he should say what was on his mind, "there's uhh… one more thing I'm good at remembering."

"What?" she asked with a tilt of the head.

"Times I've spent with you," he said as he looked at her with a serious expression.

"Aww," moaned Leslie as she dropped her dough ball, wrapped her arms around him tight and pecked him five times, all over his face, in three seconds. Jess chuckled.

"What about you?" He went back to pressing dough, "Do you remember anything from, say, the day we first met?"

"Yeah, umm. I remember when I first came in Mrs. Myers class and for like, a split second we made eye contact, it was… Well I kinda felt like I had to just be around you or talk to you or something."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she continued, "Like, I wasn't going, 'Damn he's hot' or anything, it just felt like you were significant to my life somehow and that I was going to be around you. Like we're," she raised her eyebrows and made her voice mystic, "star-crossed."

"Uhh, huh," said Jess a little taken aback. "Well, the first time I saw you, it was like," he paused to find the right words, "being punched in the face."

"WHAT?" she exclaimed as she dropped another dough ball.

"Except it didn't hurt," he said quickly. "You were, punchingly beautiful."

"Oh, okay buster," she said with a smirk.

"And you know how I glanced away quickly when you looked at me?"

"Yeah."

"It was cause I was nervous."

"Well I coulda figured that one out."

"I suppose…" he trailed off.

"How'd you feel when I beat you in that race the first day of school?"

"Oh, I was not happy. I spent the rest of the day obsessing over that."

"Yeah, I spent the rest of the day wondering if I should have thrown the race?"

"Thrown the race?" said Jess bewildered, "That's stupid! Why would you do that?"

"Well I hated making you upset."

"Leslie," Jess said seriously, "I don't want you to think of me as the kinda guy you need to throw races for. I know it was dumb of me to have such a fragile ego, but I don't want you to think my ego needs protecting."

"Wow, that's mature," replied Leslie. She grabbed another dough ball.

"Wait," said Jess, "We've pressed enough dough, the rest is for eating until we wait for the cookies to cook."

"You, sir are a genius." They grabbed their cookie sheet, and put it in the oven which was set at 400 degrees. "What now?" she asked.

_"Rabr, Rabr,"_ barked PT as he scratched at the door.

"First, we let PT out to pee, then we go play ping-pong in your basement."

"Okay," she said enthusiastically. The next 80 minutes were spent eating cookie dough, playing ping-pong and foosball on the tables in Leslie's basement, discussing quirks of the other kids in their class, music and movies they liked, the Harry Potter Series (which they'd both read all the books of), and doing an excessive degree of kissing. Although sometimes Leslie insisted on describing it as "making out," a term that Jess was somewhat uncomfortable with.

"I don't get it Jess," said Leslie, "You cringe at the phrase 'making out,' but you're perfectly okay with the actual _act._"

"I blame it on my sisters," he explained, "they're constantly having loud, obnoxious conversations, most of which include the phrase 'making out,' or 'he's soooo hot,' or something of that matter, and one of my goals in life is to be nothing like my sisters, sooo, yeah…"

Leslie decided to bug and complement Jess at the same time, so she put on her best 'stupid blonde' voice and said, "I have this boyfriend named Jess, _he's soooo hot! _I love _making out_ with him!"

Jess's grin was huge and his cheeks were as red as cherries. "Shut up."

_BEEP-BEEP-BEEP_

"Cookies are done, yay!" Said Jess.

They went upstairs to Leslie's still-new looking kitchen and removed the cookies from the oven.

"Let's try 'em," said Leslie.

"Geez Leslie, haven't you ever baked cookies before?"

"A couple of times but not often."

"That's weird, it seems like the kind of thing you would do all time."

"Well maybe I should do it more."

"Anyway, you either have to wait for them to cool, or blow on them for like a minute, to keep from getting scalded." Leslie began blowing on the cookies and Jess joined.

"Okay, that's enough," said Jess after thirty seconds, "now let's feed 'em to each other." They each picked up a cookie, stepped close to each other, and guided it into each other's mouths. The each nibbled happily in a rabbit like way that looked rather goofy. Which was inconvenient because at that moment Leslie's parents walked in.

"Hi Leslie, oh hey Jess," said Bill Burke, "We're back from Richmond." Jess and Leslie withdrew the cookies and set them down. Jess took a step back.

"Jess your father was outside," said Judy, "He said he wants you to go home and help your mom make supper and do your homework."

"Ok," he said disappointed as he and Leslie clutched each other's arms. "Bye Leslie." He slid his arms away from her a little too slowly to be considered causal, turned around and walked out the front door. Judy noticed how her daughter was watching him as he walked away and her psychic instincts kicked in.

"You and him hooked up, didn't you?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," she said proudly with a grin, "yesterday."

"I knew there was a reason you were so happy yesterday!" Judy exclaimed, "You hear that Bill, that's means _you_ do all the raking this year."

"Alright," he groaned.

"Wait, what?" asked Leslie.

"Your Dad and I made a bet a few weeks ago. I said that if you and Jess hooked up before midnight on Halloween, that he would do all the raking this year. If it happened after Halloween, I would do all the raking."

"You were betting on whether or not I'd kiss my best friend?" asked Leslie a little surprised.

"Don't be ridiculous," said her mother, "we were betting on _when."_

Leslie rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever, I need to go write in my diary."

* * *

Jess walked through the creaky side door of his house and went into their, relatively small kitchen.

"Jess grab that knife and chop up the carrots," said his mother.

"Sure."

"Hey Jess," asked Brenda slyly as she entered the room. "What's this I hear about Leslie being your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I'm not even gonna deny it," said Jess as casually as he could, "that's, true."

"Aww Jess that's so sweet." Jess barley had time to put down his knife before his sister hugged him tightly. It was probably the first hug Brenda had given Jess in a year so he was rather surprised. Then Brenda let go and ran upstairs yelling, "Hey Ellie, guess what!"

"Well you make a cute couple Jess," said his mother with as she squeezed him sideways around the waist. They smiled at each other.

Jess's Dad entered the room and said, "Did I hear that correctly son, is Leslie your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," muttered Jess, "that's the truth."

"I'm proud of you son," he said as he patted Jess's back, "she's a good catch, your mother and I have been thinking you two should be a couple for a while."

"Thanks," Jess said with a chuckle. He was starting to feel proud of himself, and it was great to get some positive attention from somebody other than Leslie or May Bell. Maybe it's a good thing to have your family know you have a girlfriend. Then Brenda and Ellie came downstairs to tease Jess and make kissy faces until dinner was ready. Maybe, it's not.


	7. Sunrise to Sunset

Hey, I wrote a new chapter to this story, even though I haven't written one in probably a year. If you want an eighth chapter, let me know. I'm not really expecting much as the movie was made so long ago, I doubt it still has a following. However I wouldn't mind seeing a few die hards encourage me.

Disclaimer: I don't own this story.

_Dear Diary, Saturday October_ _14__th__ 2007_

_Hey, this is my second entry today. Today was an awesome day. I had fun at the art museum. Jess noticed my cotton candy smell. And a punk rock girl told us how cute we were. That embarrassed Jess. He's adorable_ _when he's embarrassed._

_Afterward we spent time hanging out and baking cookies. And we made out a lot. Twas a good time. Haha. I'm probably addicted to it now._

_My parents were betting on when Jess and I would hook up. Not IF, WHEN. Why do those two have to be so psychic? I bet they knew we would from the first time they saw us together. They embarrass me a little sometimes, but in a way I kinda like._

_Signed, Leslie Burke_

* * *

"Hey Dad?" Jess said to his father. It was evening and Jess and caught him alone in the greenhouse.

"Hey Jess," He didn't seem as grouchy as normal. Which was what Jess had been hoping for.

"Ummm, tomorrow can I stay at Leslie's, like in the evening?"

"Yeah sure, just get your homework done tonight, and come home at 9:30 tomorrow."

"Thanks Dad."

"She can come with us to church again too if she wants." Wow. It seemed like the two had known each other ten years already, but this would be the first time they got to be together from sunrise to sunset.

* * *

"Leslie!" May Belle sprinted over in her little flower dress as she jumped into Leslie's arms.

"Whoa." said Leslie as she caught her, "either you're getting bigger or I'm getting smaller."

"I'm just getting faster."

Leslie had been walking over to join the Aaron family on their weekly church trip. She had been invited last night when Jess called her.

"Leslie, will you hold my hand?" asked May Belle, as Jack rushed inside for his keys.

"I'd be honoured."

"Jess, will you hold my other hand?"

"Sure."

"Leslie and Jess, will you two swing me?"

"Okay," they both said. They picked her up and swung her back and forth while her feet dangled a few inches off the ground.

May Belle giggled. "That's called the foot in the door technique."

"The what?"

"The foot in the door technique, I heard about it on an educational tv show." May Belle was pretty smart for someone who could barely pronounce educational. "You ask somebody for something small that you don't really want, and then ask them for something big that was the real thing you wanted. I was hoping you two would swing me."

"So, wait, May Belle, you didn't actually just want me to hold your hand?" asked Leslie.

"No not really," said May Belle with a sly grin.

"Oh, May Belle," gasped Leslie in mock anger, "Fine then I'm going to go hold Jess's hand." She walked around to the side of Jess that wasn't taken by May Belle and grabbed on.

"You two will make good parents one day," declared Brenda, who was leaning up against the truck with Ellie. They had been watching the three.

"Oh Brenda, are you going to be making marriage and children jokes constantly? It's gonna get pretty old don't you think?" said Jess.

"It will get older for you faster than it will for me."

"Alright," said Jack as he ran outside. "Let's go, we're already late." Jack opened up the crew cab of the truck, which Mary, Brenda, and Ellie climbed into. He then opened the back for Jess, Leslie, and May Belle. Jack headed for the driver's seat.

As they were climbing in, May Belle remarked, "Leslie, if Jess doesn't marry you, don't worry, I will." Jess blushed severely from May Belle's ridiculous remark.

"Aww, how sweet of you," answered Leslie.

"Yup, I'll be your hero." They all laughed. The trip to church ended up being an good way to begin the day for Jess and Leslie.

* * *

Just over two hours later they were sitting in the tree house, eating sandwiches they made at Leslie's house. They had made sandwiches at Leslie's house a few times before, and Jess was just beginning to like the taste of whole wheat bread. The pair had their backs rested on against the wall side-by-side.

"I have a question," said Jess.

"Shoot."

"Have you ever kissed a boy before, or am I the first."

"The second."

"So when did you kiss another guy?"

"Oh, well I was ten years old. It was this guy Jordan back in Chicago. I had a crush on him for a year."

"Wow, a long time."

"Yeah. When he kissed me I really had to go to the bathroom," Leslie explained, "and I was really nervous, so I was afraid I was going to pee my pants." Jess laughed.

"Yeah," Leslie continued giggling, "I actually felt proud of myself that I didn't. I was like, 'Good for you Leslie, you didn't screw it up by peeing your pants.'" They broke into blissful cackles. "Yeah, I guess romance makes me nervous. I got nervous when you kissed me the first time."

"I see, well just so you know, even if you did pee your pants right then, I wouldn't have thought any less of you."

"Really?" Leslie grinned.

"Of course not, it was raining too hard to tell!" mocked Jess.

Leslie's jaw dropped. "You silly man," she scolded playfully. "You silly, silly man." She wagged her finger at him and pouted her lips.

"But seriously, I'd still like you even if you did pee your pants."

"Good."

"Yup. We'd just have to go on an epic adventure to find you dry pants," said Jess. Leslie smirked right as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Careful boy, or you're going to make snort bread up my nose."

"Sorry, so what was Jordan like?"

Leslie chewed and swallowed. "He was this black guy with glasses that read a lot, and you could talk to him about anything."

Sounds cool.

"He was a swell guy, but he wasn't as playful as you, and you're a better kisser."

"Can you, _illustrate_ this for me?" invited Jess. Leslie smiled.

"Okay, he kissed like this," Leslie kissed him in a short, meek, unsatisfying way.

"Uh huh."

"And you kiss like this," Leslie kissed him the proper way, she sighed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Mmmm, I love you," moaned Jess.

_Abrupt stop._ "What?" gasped Leslie.

Jess blinked and realised what he said. "I love you," he repeated. This time on purpose.

She grabbed his shoulders. "I love you too."

_Shock._ The kissing resumed.

After a minute went by, Jess stopped. "Leslie?"

"Yeah?"

"I just realised something."

"What?"

"We are _literally_ sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

Leslie laughed. "May Belle will be overjoyed."


	8. A Magic Tome

A couple people asked for another chapter, so here it is.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

_Sunday, October 15__th__ 2007_

_First off, let me say, today ROCKED! I spent the entire day with Jess, and he SAID HE LOVES ME. (Then I said it back, duh) Now, in the future, I can brag to my friends that a boy said he loved me before I was a teenager. Ha_ _! Yeah, so that was probably the best part of my day, couldn't really believe it was happening at the time._

_Then after we were making out for about ten or fifteen minutes, we started troll hunting. We found a pair of trolls who explained to us that there are good trolls that want to work for us and there are bad trolls that work for the dark master. The good trolls can talk and the bad ones cant, and the bad ones wear black bandannas on their foreheads. The dark master has some good trolls taken prisoner, and it's our job to free them. Gonna be a good time._

_Signed, Leslie Burke._

* * *

Leslie stood at the end of the drive, tapping her foot a bit impatiently. Jess and May Belle came into view.

"Hey baby," said Leslie.

"Hey," he said kinda nervously.

"Good morning Miss May Belle."

"Good morning Mrs Leslie," she replied.

Jess and May Belle reached the bus stop. Leslie grabbed Jess's hand, intertwined their fingers, and used her fingers to tap the back of his hand. Jess appeared tough and silent, in an anxious kind of way.

"Jess are you okay?" asked Leslie.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" lied Jess.

"Well the turtle appears to be in its shell," said Leslie.

"Yeah okay," muttered Jess.

"And why is that?" They turned their heads and saw the bus turned down the road. Jess immediately dropped Leslie's hand.

"Look, can we just, not act all _coupley_ today?"

May Belle pipped up, "Jess are you embarrassed?"

"May Belle stay out of this." Jess scolded.

"Jess," Leslie wasn't smiling anymore, "You don't want to be seen holding hands with me?"

"I just don't want them to know we're together okay?"

"Jess, it wouldn't exactly surprise them," explained Leslie.

"Yeah Jess," said May Belle, "I had a bet with Alexandra that you two would be in love before this Friday, now she owes me two dollars."

Leslie smirked. "Wow," she turned to Jess, "My parents made the same bet."

"I see," he said plainly. "Well I just don't want them to know. Isn't that okay?"

"Come on Jess," insisted Leslie, "half the school thinks we're a couple already." The bus pulled up and opened its doors. They walked in and started down the aisle.

"That doesn't mean we need to tell them," retorted Jess, "It's none of their business." They plopped down in their usual seat while May Belle went to sit with Alexandra.

"Well, I was kinda hoping you'd _want_ it to be their business," said Leslie.

"Why?"

"I don't know, you're supposed to be proud."

"Proud?"

"Yeah. Proud that we're, I mean," she interrupted herself to keep from saying what was apparently a secret. "You're supposed to be proud of what's going on." The bus door closed and it started moving.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "but you're supposed to care that you embarrass me."

"I embarrass you?" Leslie whispered back, "So this is my fault?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Those were the wrong words to choose."

"Whatever," said Leslie, who was suddenly very conscious about how colourful her clothes were, half worried that she looked like a clown. A minute passed, Jess squeezed Leslie's thigh lightly.

"What?" asked Leslie meekly.

"I have a book, I mean my parents have a book," he whispered, "Called _Conflict Resolution For Couples. _Umm, they've barely ever opened it, I think my mom read a chapter once," he felt silly saying this. "Anyway, I was thinking after school we could read it there, and work this out together."

"Okay," Leslie said with a nod.

"Cool." There was a pause. Jess leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I love you."

She looked like she was straining not to grin. "Back at you buddy."

* * *

They stepped off the bus at the driveway. It closed the door behind them and started to leave.

"Okay, meet me at the rope, I'll go get the book from my house," said Jess.

"Huh? Oh right," said Leslie. She had almost forgotten about the book. By the end of the school day she'd grown kind of used to pretending they were just friends, although she did almost kiss him or say something _coupley_ several times, but each time she caught herself just in time. "Hurry up my King!"

"I will," said Jess, as he ran off toward his house.

"What book?" asked May Belle.

"Ummm," said Leslie, "The book on how to make May Belle a present."

"Hey just because I'm seven doesn't mean I'm an imbecile."

"Wow, you're getting quite the vocabulary."

"I know," she bragged, "So you're not going to tell me what kind of book this is are you?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." May Belle started walking toward her house.

Inside the house, Jess took off his shoes and walked over to the living room bookcase.

"Hey, Jess," said his mother as she walked over with the baby, "how was your day at school?"

"It was fun," Jess said automatically. He eyed the bookcase and found the thin purple book _Conflict Resolution For Couples._ In order to keep his mom from knowing what book specifically he wanted to take, he grabbed a handful of four around that area and put them in his backpack. "I'm just borrowing some books, I'll bring them back."

"Okay, well I guess it's good for you to read, just be careful with them."

"I will," Jess shoved his feet back into his shoes and headed out the door with his books. He jogged to the creek and found Leslie was already on the other side holding the rope.

"Leslie, pass the rope," he said.

"What's the magic word?" Leslie said with a sly grin.

"Please," said Jess shaking his head with a smirk. She threw the rope back over. Jess grabbed it and launched himself off the ground, over the creek. It always felt good to take a flight across the old strong rope. He landed with a thud.

They sprinted to the treehouse and made their way up the rope ladder. They made their perch on the balcony.

"So, let's see _The Magic Tome Of Royal Peace,_" said Leslie. Jess smirked.

"You know, anything boring can be made fun by having you rename it." Leslie snorted adorably and pawed Jess's chest lovingly. Jess slid off his backpack and took out the book.

"Wow," said Leslie, "That book is thin."

"Yeah," he said, "my parents aren't fans of big books." He looked at the last page. The number at the bottom was 82. "It's pretty short." He looked at the table of contents. There were six chapters, _The nature of conflict in relationships, Basic conflict solving technique, Conflict about money, Conflict about children, Conflict about sex, Conflict in various situations._

"Alright," said Jess, "We probably want the second chapter." He flipped to it and they started reading. The book went straight to the point with bullet lists, explanations of techniques, and examples. "It says, to always remember that the bond between you and your partner is more important than winning an argument."

"I think we get that," said Leslie proudly.

"Okay, and it says, when we have problems we're supposed to say 'when you blank, I feel blank, because,' and then we're supposed to provide an explanation. It also says we're supposed to be listening to our partner when they're talking and trying to understand, not trying to judge or argue. We're not even supposed to argue in a reassuring way."

"Kay," Leslie nodded, "so who goes first?"

"Rock, paper, scissors." said Jess. They pumped their fists and made a choice. Jess chose scissors. Leslie chose paper.

Leslie chuckled. "Jess, you're the only person who ever chooses scissors on the first round of a rock paper scissors match."

Jess laughed. "Okay, so... when you give me public displays of affection, I feel embarrassed because," he paused, "my big sisters have been making fun of me about girls for years, and lately, so has everybody at school."

"Your big sisters have been making fun of you for years?"

"Yeah, ever since third grade, when this girl had a crush on me, and she was following me around everywhere. It really creeped me out. She was always trying to kiss me, but I always made sure she didn't."

"That's cute, what was her name."

"Her name was Myla, as soon as Brenda and Ellie found out they started teasing me about how her and I were star crossed lovers, and how we were going to get married."

"That's kind of silly."

"I know. My sisters just kind of got used to making fun of me about girls. Once Myla went away they just teased me about girls in general. Ever since you showed up they've been teasing me about you."

"Yeah, I have seen them do that a couple times."

"Exactly, and Scott Hoger and Gary Fulcher have been teasing us for weeks. I'm sick of it after all this time. I'd hate to see the entire school join in."

"Wow, cause, you're just so tired of putting up with it."

"Yeah. Ok, now you go."

"Ok, when you tell me you don't want to hold my hand or kiss me in public, I feel like you're ashamed to be with me." Jess's eyes widened.

"Why."

"Well, it's kinda been in the back of my mind of a while, the idea of wanting to flaunt us, you know what I mean."

"I guess."

"We've had a..." she looked for the right word, "_heat_ between us for a while, right, so I guess I just thought one day we'd get to show the whole world."

"I see what you mean."

"Yeah and I've really been looking forwards to it these past couple days," she paused, "Remember when we kissed on Saturday in front of the punk girl?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, I'm excited to be with you, and I want the world to know, and when you say you don't want that, it makes me feel like you don't feel the same way."

"Really?" Jess was surprised. The idea that Leslie thought that it was possible for _anybody_ to not be excited to be with her was baffling.

"Yeah, I want to show us off because I'm excited and proud that we're together. And I just thought showing that to the world would be a lot of fun. And I really didn't want to fun to be spoiled, and I didn't want to feel like you weren't happy we're together."

"Wow."

"What do you mean by 'wow?'"

"Well, I can't really believe it," he said, "I never really thought you could get that insecure. I mean, you're so, incredible, it's just amazing that you would ever forget that."

They couldn't help embracing. They held each other close and kissed.

When they finally pulled away, Leslie said, "Damn, Jesse, that book really works." They both laughed and looked each other in the eyes.

"Yeah, but we're still left with one question, what do we actually do about this?" asked Jess.

"Well, you just don't want to be all PDA because you don't want to be made fun of right?"

"Yeah, and I don't want to be one of _those_ couples that make out hardcore during recess. You know how there are a couple eight grade couples that it's just like, 'hey, it's nice that you found each other, but a I don't want to see your tongues mashing together.'"

Leslie laughed. "Oh, to tell you the truth, I was looking foreward to doing that, but it does look pretty nasty when other people do it, so maybe we won't." Jess laughed. Leslie continued, "Well you know how everyone made fun of me when I first got here and then eventually they stopped? Or at least, they mostly stopped."

"Yeah."

"Well, I just followed my dad's advice," Leslie explained, "I turned their jokes into my jokes."

"How did you do that?"

"Well, here's an example, on my second day here, an eighth grade girl said, 'nice clothes, are you a pixie?' and I was like, 'Totally. The hottest pixie in Virginia,' and I smiled at her."

"So that's why people aren't making fun of you as much anymore?"

"I think so. My dad said if I kept doing that they'd just get bored, I mean Hoger and Fulcher didn't, but everyone else did."

"Yeah, that's true," agreed Jess

"So, do you think you'd be willing to try that out with me?"

"You mean, act like a couple in public, and if somebody makes fun of us, just turn the joke into our joke and laugh it off?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, but we have to have a code word, like," he paused, "pixie." Leslie giggled. Jess went on, "If I say pixie, that means I'm uncomfortable, and we have to act less... romantic."

"Deal," said Leslie, "So now that we have that worked out, can we go get Prince Terrian and free some giant trolls?"

"I'll race you to the rope."


End file.
